Feelin' Stoney

We all have that person in our life that is arrogant, bold, abrasive, in-your-face, makes you drink too much, but for some reason you just can't get enough of.  Stone in North San Diego is the brewery equivalent of that person.  Every time we head south to San Diego (usually en route to the Casbah) we have to stop for a pint, or five.  With beers that have alcohol contents of 6, 7 and 8 % their flavors can best be described as a punch to the mouth.  Would you expect anything else from an ale called 'Arrogant Bastard'?  Stone beers are not for amateurs.

Stone's well crafted and delicious beers are not the kind you would indulge in on a heavy night of drinking.  These are beers with flavor, body and long winded tasting notes, so you know it's bound to be good.  We've been to Stone quite a few times now, done the tour of the brewery, the tasting, the whole 9 yards.  You could say we're a couple of stoners.  Getting into the taste, subtleties and description of beer is something that I find to be wholly subjective and ineffective, so I'll spare you the hassle of trying to taste with your mind.  That's why God gave us tongues.

Connected to the brewery is a restaurant / bar and their food is not for the weak either, being that many of the dishes feature stone beers as one of the ingredients.  We usually just have appetizers, being careful not to reverse the all-important pre-Casbah buzz.  Our favorite appetizers are the Mushroom Pillows.  These little guys are dreamily delicious mushrooms stuffed with jalapeños and cream cheese that live in a crisp little home made of dough.  The perfect home for the explosion of tasty goodness.  I wish I had a home made of dough where I would let mushroom and jalapeño live in harmony and free from the gawkers opinions of their sultry love triangle with cream cheese.  Other tasty morsels they have include the Spud Buds, deep fried mashed potato balls, and the Homemade Hummus.

Stone not only offers a delicious feast for the hungry, as well as, nectar of life for the thirsty, they also provide a playground for the eyes.  Their facility is very uniquely designed from their high ceilings with floating beer displays, to their outside dining area with blooming garden, fireplaces and pond.  They even have a gift shop, which we took advantage of on this visit.  This time we picked up a couple of pint glasses and beers which would soon fill said pint glasses.  When we got home we noticed that there was a warning sticker on the bottoms of the glasses:

Some materials used in the color decorations on this glass contain lead which are known to the state of California to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive harm.

So it looks like our enjoyment of Stone products will not only leave us with hangovers and bad livers but cancer and sterility.  No big.

Tunesday: Tim Barry

We here at The Tasty Morsel have a pretty good weekend to look forward to.  This weekend one of our favorite musicians to see live is performing a couple of shows in our area, and that means we get to travel around a little bit, chow some food in a bit of a different area and have some drinks.

We have a handful of musicians that we try to see every time they are in town.  These artists are all from out of state, so we usually only get the chance to see them once or twice a year if we're lucky.

This weekend, Tim Barry will be in town.  Tim Barry is from Richmond, Virginia and is also the singer for the now-on-hiatus Avail.  We first heard about Tim's music a handful of years ago when he was opening for Drag the River.  I think at that point he was performing with Josh Small on guitar and banjo and his sister, Caitlin on fiddle.  There were a handful of songs that caught our ear and turned us into fans that night, but I think the one that really got me fired up was 'One Quick Minute'.  Really Awesome song writing.

So, this year, we'll be down in San Diego then to Long Beach to enjoy two Tim Barry shows.  It looks like he'll be playing with Austin Lucas and Josh Small, and from what I've heard is that the show will not be in sets, but will be all three artists sharing the stage on each other's songs.

Since we are going down to San Diego, this gives us the opportunity to write about a few drinking and eating establishments that we run into along the way.  So in tow with seeing Tim Barry (Alison's 'boyfriend' as she likes to call him) we also get to find a few new places to eat and drink at, then write about said eating and drinking.  How Productive.

Here's Tim Barry Performing one of my favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rMCGoALAds